The PPP let the opposition gain strength after 2011

Ralph Ramkarran laments what might have been if the PPP “now reactive and on the back foot” had made political deals instead….


In an article on his website Conversation Tree Ralph Ramkarran assesses the PPP approach to its public since 2011. I have taken out certain quotes from this article. You can read the full article here.

"The PPP could have been facing the electorate in completely different circumstances. Displaying a woeful lack of foresight, it sat back and allowed its opponents to unite, rather than keeping them competing for influence, as they had been doing after the elections. The exposure of the Government/Granger Linden electricity deal by the AFC in 2012 comes to mind. Now, the APNU+AFC political alliance threatens the PPP’s hold on political power.

Had it established an early coalition government with APNU after being reduced to a plurality in 2011, the electorate would have been asked at these elections to return a PPP+APNU, not an APNU+AFC, alliance to office. We could have been in a transformative era in Guyana’s politics, in accordance with Cheddi Jagan’s legacy. It is the AFC which is now claiming this mantle. True or not, this claim will resonate during the campaign aided by an APNU+AFC campaign strategy of offering change, reform and renewal, always an attractive strategy when facing an incumbent in office for 22 years.

David Granger APNU AFC Presidential Candidate

Both the government and the electorate have inevitably succumbed to the fatigue generated by incumbency. Both have become jaded and have lost enthusiasm. The government has lost the capacity to innovate. ..

The PPP has been on the back foot and reactive since it lost its majority in 2011. The APNU+AFC alliance and its confident, upbeat launching last Wednesday in an electric atmosphere will keep the PPP on the back foot, if their campaign is supplemented with a credible programme. The only response of the PPP is its record from 1992 to the present and of the PNC’s past. Advances made since 1992 no longer inspire because conditions before 1992 are distant memories. The PPP does not refer to its record from 2011 to the present during which time, according to the just published LAPOP poll, there has been a sharp decline in optimism about politics and the economy."